ultramods

you do get them, such as this one https://www.pureh2o.co.uk/product/quatreau-touch/, however they are ridiculously expensive. I have gone for the Quooker Fusion after a fair amount of research. If you are buying a boiling water tap compare the frequency at which the filters need to be changed and the cost of the filters. This is one of the reasons I went with Quooker as with a lot of the other taps I would have been paying a lot more for filters over the lifetime of the tap.

Has anyone had any prices for the tilt and turn doors? I like the idea of them as I have 3 3000mm wide windows in the open plan area, but only 1000 mm in each of the windows slides open. Having the middle window opening fully would be nice.

Very difficult to say as there are so many variables that can vary massively, such as: The location that you are building - labour is based on supply and demand and therefore varies massively throughout the UK and Ireland. Type of bricks Level of insulation Level of airtightness Number of Levels, a 200 sqm 1 storey bungalow could practically have the same foundation and roofing costs compared to a 2 storey 400 sqm house. The size of the house - a 200 sqm house could have the same number of kitchens and ensuites as a 400 sqm house. The design of the house - large open plan areas might need more steel compared to a more conventional layout. foundations/groundworks - for example a sloping site can add a lot of cost. Glazing - are you having lots of glazing, sliding doors, structural glazing Roofing material - concrete tiles are a lot cheaper compared to natural slate or Zinc Number of bathrooms/ensuites Interior finishes such as Kitchens, stair, sanitary ware and flooring Service connections, - if the services are not on the plot boundary connections can be expensive. Have a look at these cost calculators https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/calculator/ The Fleming Homes calculator is for Timber Frame https://www.fleminghomes.co.uk/self-build-resources/cost-calculator/

Thanks, that makes sense. Some photos would be appreciated.

Is the worktop installer also installing the 2mm steel sheet and the MDF? How thick is the MDF and if the MDF and steel is sitting on top of the cabinets is is not visible, when the Dekton is so thin? Also can you tell me the cost of the steel and MDF work? So far I have only had one quote for the Neolith and they didn't mention the need for MDF or steel - I will investigate this now, thanks.

Corian is destructible, scratches easily and I don't think you could for example put a hot pan on it, however it can be repaired. When I was asking for samples they were advising that we don't go for a dark colour as scratches are more visible - sounds great!

We could have got a longer worktop with Corian, however it's no where near as durable and it's far thicker. I just hope it's strong as they claim as the sample that we sent we arrived in one piece but then a crack appeared in it and it broke in two - I didn't even try and break or damage it!

The worktop is Neolith Nero https://www.neolith.com/en/collections/nero-3/, we have chosen this as we wanted a thin quartz type solid surface worktop with no joins. This is the longest worktop we could find as close to the dark grey colour that we wanted. We don't need a huge sink as all dishes go in the dishwasher, the sink is only for rinsing and filling cups etc with hot or cold water. If anything does need to be soaked we can use the larger sink in the utility. We are doing it mainly for the aesthetics of everything been as minimal and flush as possible, however as a direct consequence of this it also means less space to have stuff/junk/clutter lying about. Also less clutter lying about means the house is easier to keep clean and tidy. We are going for the Ligne Roset Togo in Grey, I wanted a funkier colour, however wife wouldn't let me https://www.ligne-roset.com/uk/modele/living/upholstery/togo/37 The sofa has got slightly larger compared to the one on the plan, it will be a kind-of U shape made up of a 2 seater, corner, 3 seater, corner, one seater and foot stool. The utility, is very close to the kitchen and garage and to an exterior door. With it's current position it still gets natural day light. The utility is also sort of hidden away and far(ish) away from living areas. Also in terms of fitting everything into the house, the utility size, shape and position were less important than some of the other space. However having said that I am really happy with the utility room. The cupboard in the utility is not 1200mm deep, so it's now a walk in cupboard, leaving 3000 for a single run of worktop. Photo was taken before the end partition was erected. The door will be positioned to the left, meaning there will still be lots of natural light. Also I took this photo standing inside the 1200 mm deep cupboard.

The toaster will be in the utility room, for the number of times a week we actually use it this shouldn't be a problem. The tall bank has built in single oven, combi microwave oven and bean to cup coffee machine. In terms of food prep there should be room for 2 people to work between the hob and the sink, otherwise there is more space round the other side of the island or at the sides.

I am putting an island in our kitchen (it should be arriving in the next 2 weeks). I don't have experience living with it yet, however I have stayed in holiday houses with similar layout and I liked it. Our island is slightly bigger than the floor plan, it's 3100 x 1200 mm, we would have liked to go slightly longer, however 3100 mm is the longest we could get the preferred worktop in. Also the sink isn't as large as displayed on the floor plan. if you are having an island, watch that the circulation space around the island is not to cramped, especially between the island and the bank of units, as it makes it difficult for more than 1 person to be working in the kitchen at the same time, we have gone for 120 0mm between the tall bank and the island. Out island will be the only worktop in the kitchen, we went for this and the house is to be very minimal and I find having lots of worktop space means lots of appliances and knife holders etc are on display. Where as with the island this will not be possible. The island will house: pan drawer, drawer for cutlery (also utensils and knives), hob, sink, boiling water tap, dishwasher and bins (normal waste and recycling). There is no seating at the island because we don't like sitting on bar stools, also the dining table which is very close, provides seating. There will be double sockets on the sides of each end of the island, we haven't gone for a popup socket for aesthetic reasons and to make it slightly easier to clean the worktop. Also ignore some of the width dimensions shown on the island drawings, it's not 4224 or 5 * 600, it's 3100 mm.

@lizzie ? I have just looked on the Bora site and it's 153 euros!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing this. Think I will order one as I really done like chrome and our worktop is a dark grey.

I also saw someone posted on the forum last week about Barnhaus, which looked quite interesting http://www.pentan.co.uk/project/barnhaus/

At first I thought the box idea was neat, however it would be interesting to know the cost of the system in terms of material and labour compared to other systems as it did appear to be very labour intensive. When I was researching the different build systems I came across beattie passive, if I was building the house myself I think this would be simpler/faster to use compared to the boxes. The thing that put my off Beattie Passive was the cost for them to design the house (to be built with their system). This was 2-3 years ago now, so their prices may have changed.

Exactly!

They certainly aren't cheap however we had budgeted for them before the build started, so they were allowed Also when comparing Lusso to similar basins and vanity units from some of the major players I think they are a "bargain".

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions. We have decided that we will go with floor to ceiling large format tiles, which should reduce the amount of grout. The photo below is the look we are aiming for. The green walls will be 750 x 750 matt white tiles. The floor will be 750 x 750 Imola Ceramica Lime-Rock tile below (as will be most of the flooring in the house) The yellow wall will be a feature wall using the darker Lime-Rock below.

The sink is from Lusso Stone, it's a bespoke variation of this design https://www.lussostone.com/vanity-units-c11/lusso-stone-thinn-slimline-double-basin-draw-vanity-unit-1200-p465 If you go to the link above you will see various images and drawings of the sink, including how the waste will work.

Can you share any photos please? I had looked at some of the aqua panel options, however didn't like the joins between panels.

Is it just grotty where a splashback should be? If it is I would maybe consider using a 100 mm upstand that is the same material as the sink. Do you think 100 mm would be sufficient as that is the only height they do? This is the basin that we will have.

I can't decide if I should tile the wall I have highlighted green in the ensuites? The only reason I would tile the wall is to help keep the wall clean. I want the wall to look like a white painted wall, I have managed to find a large format matt white tile, however this is more expensive than simply painting the wall. Also the tile is 600 x 600 whereas the rest of the tiles on floor and shower area are 750 x 750. I don't like it when part of a wall is tiled, or there is a tile upstand above the basin, so it's basically all or nothing. Do you think I need to tile the wall or would a washable paint be OK? The basin and toilet are both wall hung. I have highlighted the shower screen with purple.

@Dan Feist Have you looked at lowering the house level to gain some extra ceiling height as 2500 isn't that high for a house of 350 sqm. I will take some photos of our hall tonight as it's 3300mm wide to let you can see the 900mm stair.

In general it really depends on the style of house you are building, for example if you are building a replica Edwardian style house is 2850 going to be high enough - probably not. Also in a room that isn't particularly wide, such as an ensuite, 2850 might make the room proportions look odd as the ceiling is too high. When you see some of the houses on grand designs and see people standing in large open plan areas, some of the ceiling heights must be 4+ metres high, however the room looks in proportion. With my house which is similar height to yours, I have a large-ish open plan area 6 metres x 12 metres, the ceiling height is 2700, which is the max we could get away with in terms of planning (taking the overall height of the house into consideration). I certainly don't think it's too low, however I would have like it to be a bit higher. We do have some double height spaces which do help the space feel more special. On the first floor again the ceiling are at a maximum height that planning would allow of 2400 (taking the overall height of the house into consideration). Ideally I would have liked to have around 2700 in the the larger rooms, and then possibly brought the ceiling height down to 2400 in some of the smaller ensuites. The stair width is 900, I thought it was going to be 1000 wide, however I mis-read the dimensions (it's a cantilevered stair and 10mm is hidden within the supporting wall. If you can I would go for a wider stair than 900. If you haven't done so already visiting some similar sized/styled show/friends + family homes is a good idea to try and appreciate the different dimensions.Take a laser measure long to quickly take some measurements. Another compromise I had to make with our house was the reduce the roof pitch to gain the extra height in the ground floor, this was also done in combination with lowering the foundation level on the plot.

I am away this weekend and the next 2 which is why I was trying to get it finished this week. From now on I will take days off work to finish any work or do it on Saturday morning.

I do all the cutting in the house, but I have the generator outside (we still don't have electrical supply).